Aerobic exercise not only improves fitness but is also known to benefit both physical and emotional health. Regular aerobic exercise can help you live a longer and healthier life. Aerobic exercise can reduce health risks, keep excess pounds at bay, strengthen your heart, and boost your mood.
What is Aerobic Exercise?
Aerobic exercise, commonly known as “cardio”, is any activity that gets your heart, lungs, and muscles working and is sustainable for more than a few minutes.
Muscles are like engines that run on fuel, burning fat and carbohydrates instead of gasoline. Oxygen is necessary to burn fat and carbohydrates as fuel.
With regular aerobic exercise:
- Your heart doesn’t have to pump as fast to meet the demands of exercise. Fewer beats and higher blood volume per heartbeat equals greater efficiency. Think about a pump emptying water out of a flooded basement. The pump works better and lasts longer if it can pump larger volumes of water with each cycle instead of pumping faster under more strain to get rid of the water. This results in a low resting heart rate when not exercising.
- Your muscles get more efficient at consuming oxygen, or removing the oxygen from the blood, resulting in increased endurance because your muscles won’t run out of oxygen as quickly. Mitochondria, the powerhouse inside your muscle cells that do all the heavy-duty work to keep you moving, increase by as much as 50% in a matter of days to weeks in response to regular aerobic exercise.
- You’ll burn more fat. Fat contains 9 calories per gram, whereas carbohydrates have only 4 calories per gram, and so you’ll get more energy and will go farther on a gram of fat than on a gram of carbohydrates. You need more oxygen to burn fat because it’s denser than carbohydrates, but your body gets better at using oxygen and burning fat when you do regular aerobic exercise.
Aerobic (Cardio) vs Anaerobic (Weightlifting)
Aerobic exercise, commonly known as “cardio”, is exercise that stimulates your heart rate and breathing rate to increase, delivering oxygenated blood to your working muscles, allowing you to sustain the exercise indefinitely. However, aerobic exercises can become anaerobic if performed at a level of intensity that is too high. Examples of aerobic exercises include cardio machines, spinning, running, swimming, walking, hiking, aerobics classes, dancing, cross-country skiing, and kickboxing.
Anaerobic exercise, commonly known as “strength training”, is exercise where oxygen demand is greater than oxygen supply, leading to lactate build up in your muscles and causing you to be quickly out of breath and unable to continue the exercise for long. Anaerobic exercises are performed at maximum effort for a short time. Examples of anaerobic exercises include sprinting and lifting weights.
The bottom line is that the intensity at which you perform an activity determines if it’s aerobic or anaerobic.
How Much Aerobic Exercise Do I Need to Gain benefit?
There are two physical activity guidelines in the United States.
- Surgeon General’s Report on Physical Activity and Health
- Adults should accumulate 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity on most, if not all days of the week. The keywords in this statement are “accumulate” and “moderate-intensity.”
- Accumulate means that you can do 10-15 minutes at a time and repeat that a couple of times throughout the day; for example, 10 minutes in the morning, 10 minutes at lunch, and 10 minutes around dinner.
- Moderate intensity is equivalent to feeling “warm and slightly out of breath” when you do the activity.
- American College of Sports Medicine
- 20-60 minutes of continuous aerobic activity (biking, walking, jogging, dancing, swimming, etc.) three to five times a week, at 60%-90% of maximum heart rate, and two to three days of resistance training.
- This is a more formal “workout” recommendation, although you can also accumulate the more intense workout in bouts of 10-15 minutes throughout the day if you like.
- Adults should accumulate 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity on most, if not all days of the week. The keywords in this statement are “accumulate” and “moderate-intensity.”
How Do I Get Started with an Aerobic Exercise Program?
Give yourself a break.
One of the most important things to remember when starting an exercise program is: Don’t try to make up for years of inactivity all at once. Also, remember that exercise is very individual. If you don’t like something, don’t do it! You will never find me in a weight room, for example. I just don’t like it! But I know there are lots of ways to strength train and get the same benefits. The most important thing is that you like the activity, and it gives you a sense of feeling healthy and strong.
Discover time to be active.
Observe your daily activities for one week and write out your schedule. Doing this will help you see the gaps. See if you can find 20-30-minute gaps of time – that is enough for a strength training session, a walk outside, a cardio workout, or some stretching and core strengthening exercises.
Make movement a part of your daily life.
Aside from planned workouts or exercise classes, add movement to any activity you can. Walk or ride your bike to work or shopping, organize school activities around a physical activity, walk the dog, exercise while you watch TV, or allow yourself a little treat if you do 10 pushups every day. Park farther from your destination and take the stairs when you can. Take a walk every evening after dinner. At work, take a walk during virtual meetings and conference calls, if possible. Or go for a walk during your break. Take 5 minutes every hour, stand, stretch, and move around. Even if you only take 3 of those 5-minute breaks, that’s 15 minutes of movement you got benefit from.
Set realistic goals.
Follow the well-known advice and set a SMART goal, one that is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. Make sure you write it down where you can see it every day, like on your bathroom mirror, by the front door, or in your car. Lastly, tell people you trust to give you support and accountability about your goals. Studies show that telling someone about your goal increases your likelihood of achieving that goal by 65%.
Walking as Exercise
Select an activity that you already enjoy doing. This will significantly increase your probability of sticking with it. Take walking, for example. Going on a neighborhood walk may not seem like exercise worth doing, but studies show that walking just 30 minutes every day can increase cardiovascular fitness, strengthen bones, reduce excess body fat, and boost muscle power and endurance. It can also reduce your risk of developing conditions such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis and some cancers.
Taking a walk every day is an excellent way to be physically active because you can do it anywhere, it doesn’t require special equipment, skills, or knowledge and you already know how since you’ve been walking your entire life!
Example Walking Program
Monday – Take a 20-minute walk after dinner.
Tuesday – Walk with a friend from work during lunch
Wednesday – Take a 20-minute walk after dinner.
Thursday – Walk with a friend from work during lunch
Friday – Day off
Saturday – Go for a 1-hour hike or longer walk around the neighborhood
Sunday – Meet up with friends for coffee and a walk to catch-up
This program lists not only the exercise type and duration, but also the plan, which increases your likelihood of sticking with it (over just saying “I’ll walk every day next week”.)
If you are new to exercise, it’s helpful to start small. A five-minute out, five-minute back plan is a great place to start. Just like it sounds, you walk for five minutes from your starting point, like your front door, turn around, and walk back. It’s simple and doable for almost everyone and is an easy program to build upon.
Target Heart Rate
For many individuals, simply monitoring how you feel while exercising is enough to determine the proper aerobic intensity. Warm and slightly out of breath is a great sign that you’re exercising with moderate intensity.
For people who like to know with more precision how their body is doing during exercise, taking your heart rate during exercise and calculating your target heart rate is useful.
To calculate your target heart rate, you’ll need to know your resting heart rate. Most people have a resting heart rate of 70-90 beats per minute (bpm) at your heart rate can rise to as 170 bpm or higher during exercise. This depends on the intensity of the exercise, your fitness level, your age, and other factors.
Calculate your resting heart rate
While you are calm and at rest, find your radial pulse on the underside of the wrist on the thumb side. Press gently with your index and middle fingers, not your thumb, until you find your pulse. Once you have it, count the # of beats in 10 seconds and multiply by 6 to get the beats per minute (bpm).
Calculate your Max heart rate
Max HR = 220 – Age
Calculate your Heart Rate Reserve
Heart Rate Reserve (HRR) = Max HR – resting heart rate
Calculate your Training Heart Rate
Training Heart Rate = Heart Rate Reserve (HRR) x exercise intensity
Exercise intensity of 85% or lower is aerobic, 85% or higher is anaerobic. A typical exercise intensity is 70%.
Calculate your Target Heart Rate
Target Heart Rate = Training Heart Rate + resting heart rate
Heart rate monitors and smart watches can help you track your heart rate and keep you in a training zone.
Examples of Aerobic Exercise
“Simple” aerobic training
The simplest method is just that, simple. To follow this program, simply select the number of minutes you’d like to exercise. Make sure to keep it realistic and manageable, like 20 minutes of walking every day. Then, head out the door or step on the treadmill and go for it. To make it aerobic, walk at a pace that leaves you feeling “warm and slightly out of breath”. If you find 20 minutes is too ambitious, then reduce the time, but don’t give up. The most important thing is to get started. You can always increase as you get stronger.
If you are new to exercise, it’s helpful to start small. A five-minute out, five-minute back plan is a great place to start. Just like it sounds, you walk for five minutes from your starting point, like your front door, turn around, and walk back. It’s simple and doable for almost everyone and is an easy program to build upon.
Interval training
Interval training is doing intense sets of aerobic exercise and is a very effective way to increase your fitness level. Interval training requires that you can exercise at a higher intensity, so make sure you build up to 20-30 minutes of aerobic exercise before trying interval training.
When interval training, you alternate doing the exercise more intensely with periods of less intensity. For example, if you were running intervals, you would start running at your usual speed for 5 minutes, then run at an increased speed for 1-2 minutes, then slow back down to your usual speed for a few minutes to catch your breath. Then, repeat. Spin class is also an example of interval training.
High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
High-intensity interval training is alternating between bouts of all-out effort and low-intensity recovery and is a great way to improve cardiovascular fitness, especially in a short amount of time.
Gym-based aerobic workouts
- Riding a stationary bike is a low impact exercise that can help develop leg strength and cardiovascular endurance. Try 35 to 45 minutes, 3 times per week.
- Elliptical machines provide a good cardiovascular workout that’s less stressful on the knees, hips, and back compared to the treadmill or running on the road or trails. Try 20 to 30 minutes, 2 to 3 times per week.
- Aerobic workout classes are great if you don’t like exercising alone or prefer to be led through exercise. Classes can provide a supportive and encouraging environment and can help you exercise safely and effectively.
- Classes include step aerobics, funk-fusion, hip-hop, jazz, kickboxing, boot camp, and many more
- Swimming is a low impact exercise, so it’s good for people prone to or recovering from an injury or living with limited mobility. It can help you tone your muscles and build strength and endurance. Try 10 to 30 minutes, 2 to 5 times a week. Add 5 minutes to your swim time each week to increase your duration.
At-home aerobic exercise programs
- Jump rope to develop better body awareness, hand-foot coordination, and agility. Try 15 to 25 minutes, 3 to 5 times per week
- Run or jog to improve heart health, burn fat and calories, and lift your mood. Try 20 to 30 minutes, 2 to 3 times per week
- Walk to reduce your risk of heart disease, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, and depression. Try 30 minutes, 5 days a week
Low-impact aerobic exercise:
Swimming, cycling, elliptical, walking, rowing
High-impact aerobic exercise:
Running, jumping rope, aerobics, dance
Exercise Safety
It is recommended that you talk with your physician before you start an exercise program. Ask what, if any, limitations you may have. People who suffer from diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, arthritis, pulmonary conditions, or other health conditions may need additional safety guidelines for exercise.
If you develop symptoms during exercise including, but not limited to, unusual shortness of breath; tightness in the chest; chest, shoulder, or jaw pain; lightheadedness; dizziness; confusion; or joint pain, you should stop exercising immediately and contact your physician.
If it feels good for your body, you can do aerobic exercise every day. There is no need to rest in between sessions unless you are at an extreme level of training, such as preparing for a marathon, or if you experience reoccurring joint pain. If joint pain is a limiting factor, it would be appropriate to alternate less painful exercises with those that may cause joint pain or discontinue the painful exercise altogether.
Warming up and cooling down
Every session of aerobic exercise should include a warm-up and cool-down. The warm-up period should be a gradual increase in pace and intensity of the exercise. This allows the body to increase blood flow to the muscles and decreases the likelihood of a muscle or joint injury. The warm-up should last between 5 and 10 minutes. The cool-down session should last a similar amount of time as the warm-up, with the pace gradually decreasing. Stretching and strength training exercises are best done after aerobic exercise.
